Louis-Eugène Cavaignac

Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (15 October 1802-28 October 1857) was Prime Minister of France from 28 June to 20 December 1848, succeeding Francois Arago and preceding Odilon Barrot; he concurrently served as Chief of the Executive Power. Cavaignac was a career army officer, and he was granted dictatorial powers in order to suppress the June Days uprising, behaving ruthlessly in order to restore order. Despite being popular in the Parliament, he lost the presidential election to Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte.

Biography
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac was born in Paris, France on 15 October 1802, and he served in Greece and Algeria while serving as an officer in the French Army. Around this time, he developed republican views, and he served as Governor of Algeria in 1848 under the revolutionary government of France. He was even offered the post of Minister of War, but he decided to turn it down. On 24 June, however, he was appointed President of the Council of Ministers with emergency powers, making him the military dictator of France. Cavaignac was tasked with crushing the June Days uprising by the socialists, and he did so ruthlessly. Cavaignac earned the thanks of Parliament, but he lost heavily to Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in the presidential election. In 1851, Cavaignac and other figures who opposed Bonaparte's rule were imprisoned, but he was released after a short imprisonment at Ham and allowed to retire to Ourne, where he died in 1857.